I wrote this one a long time ago, but I still like to play it. The title is Trust Me, or She Looks and Tells Me, because that’s the first line. But recently I refer to it in my mind as Rockland County, because that’s where the little story takes place. To borrow a bit of Bill Monroe’s terminology, it’s a “true life” song – … Continue reading Trust Me: A Rockland County Song
This one is about a girl named Suzie This one is just about coffee Continue reading More of Bumba’s Original Songs/Ditties
I don’t write too many songs nowadays. I used to. I think I wrote a couple of good ones in the past. In a fit of self absorption, I started to look through my old garageband files to see if I really had any good ones. I found ten that I think are good. Not all of them are old. Some of them are fairly … Continue reading Original Songs
What is the Blues? How does one define the “Blues Genre”? And why does one (or even two) have to define things all the time? What’s this with all these definitions? And what’s this with all these “genres”? For instance, San Francisco Bay Blues has too many chords to be called a blues, and, in my humble opinion, San Francisco Bay Blues is not really … Continue reading More “Almost Blueses”
I ain’t much of a songwriter. I admit it. Many moons ago I wrote a couple of good ones. Once or twice I made a cassette tape and sent it to a music publisher. This was in the days they had cassette tapes. I believe I received a polite rejection letter. Nowadays, I barely write songs anymore. All the same, sometimes, when I’m playing guitar … Continue reading Another Blues “Original”
Contents: TWO POEMS, A SALUTE TO DECEMBER AND TO THE NUMBER TWELVE, plus some Duogesimal Meanderings A SCIENCE POEM E=mc2 Nothing is faster than light I conceptualized the race (It was a thought experiment) And, well, Nothing won… ****************************** A CHILD’S POEM Fat and Skinny had a race All around the pillow case Fat fell down and broke his face Skinny won the … Continue reading December Magazine
This is my own little blues song titled Low Down Blues. It’s the only song I’ve written of late and I just love to play it on piano. I’ve played it several times on the blog already, so apologies. But I think I’m getting it better! We’ve talked about this before. Anyhoo, I’ve been playing it regularly for a few years already! I’m just stuck … Continue reading Low Down Blues
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, was written in 1923 by Jimmy Cox. The great Bessie Smith recorded it in 1929 and had a big hit with the song. Not surprisingly, the song soon became associated with the great Wall St. crash of ’29, as it tells of a riches to rags reversal of fortune. That’s how it goes on the stock market, … Continue reading Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
Written (so they say) by Charlie Monroe, Bill’s brother, circa 1935, this country/bluegrass standard is a lot of fun to play. Performed by Bumbas and Maybank a couple of days ago. Click play to hear. I’ve been enjoying the Ken Burns Country Music Documentaries on PBS. Also enjoying, and highly recommend the NOVA series they’re broadcasting on The Planets. It’s just amazing how much … Continue reading Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms
It’s time for another St. James Infirmary post. We have a St. James Infirmary Compendium here at Bumbastories (look in the header). In case you haven’t heard, St. James Infirmary is one of the all-time great American folk songs. Bumba and Maybank are hooked on it, and here present yet another version recorded earlier this week. Sing along, play along. Listen to Louis Armstrong do … Continue reading St. James Infirmary
